A River Never Dies
by Ezzaria26
Summary: He had pushed her away for her safety, but living in the human world wouldn't work for her. It couldn't work for her. And so, after trying to fit in, she's finally getting to go back, because she slowly begins to realize something. A river never dies


**There are so many fanfictions for Kohaku and Chihiro, but the funny thing is, Chihiro seems so weak and boring and talent...less in them. No offense to the writers. She's probably in character, or she's really stubborn or something, but she's too weak for me. She's too boring for me, like a certain Bella Swan in a certain Twilight book. (sorry for those of you who love it, because I'm opinionated) Plus, even though there are good ones, there are also good ones that lack lots of kissing because they're rated K or something. And we can't have that. So, I've decided to make my own, and you needn't a reason why. For the piano music that is played, look it up on youtube. It's River Flows in You by Yiruma.**

**I don't own Spirited Away. Or any of the songs that Chihiro plays on the piano.**

**Enjoy!**

_A river never dies. It keeps flowing on in people's hearts even when it's filled it. Its water still fills the sea even though where it originally came from is long gone. Its past inhabitants remembers it, so it still lives on in memory._

When I had returned to the human world, everything seemed dimmer, duller, clumsier, maybe even empty and lifeless compared to where I had come from. It's funny, the impressions a place can leave on you. You don't even have to be there for long. No. Three short days and its all you can think about. My mind's inner wheels are always spinning frantically at the thought of how obsessed and in love with the place I would've become, had Haku not pushed me away.

Telling my parents of our crazy adventure, because they had no memory of it, was the first thing to do. It was also my big mistake, the one that would haunt my dreams just like leaving the spirit world had. Never in my life had I dreamed of downing that much medication, and so, my mind caught on quicker than my broken heart and hollow body did, and built up walls. Walls that let nothing out. In fact, new hobbies were quickly found, new friends were quickly made. My parents scorned me for being odd and foolish and different, and the medication didn't lessen for quite a few weeks, months even. But eventually everything was fixed.

Eight months after coming from the spirit world, making it a wet, cool early spring, I became friends with a girl named Isabelle, who had moved to Japan to live with her father after her mother had passed away, and, to top it all off, I became best friends with a girl named Misami, whose mother was an author of a couple best sellers, and whose father was a carpenter who, in his spare time, liked to study myths and legends, auras and telepathy. We never told my parents about hers, because they would've forced Misami away instantly, question my health again. Zenjiro was also a good friend of ours, with two other brothers. He lived with normal parents with normal jobs, his father a doctor and his mother a chef at a restaurant. Their lives all seemed so normal to me.

Whenever they weren't over at our new blue house on top of that large, steep hill, and when I wasn't over at one of their homes, I cleaned the house for my parents, and they decided to forget about the fact that I might not be all there, because never before had I been so clean and organized. Never before had I whined so little. In fact, complaining wasn't even a word in my mind. I taught myself to cook, just out of the hilarity of the situation. My parents truly were pigs. Many times my mind entertained the idea of placing mystery herbs and globs of baby food with spinach and pudding mixed in before them, because, if my theory was correct, they wouldn't hesitate to swallow that too. In fact, their compliments became more colorful and prideful as I began to experiment with pastas and dumplings, even some pork chops here and there, which was quite a sight to see, believe me.

They never thought about how boring I was. It was like a housewife, a maid. After six years I cleaned, I cooked, I did school work, and occasionally I was gone to visit my friends (I had become quite popular, with natural beauty and spunk and sporty talent, but I still kept to my three original friends) or for my part time job at the pet store (I worked the rodent section and the reptile and amphibian sections a lot, for reasons only known by me.). For hobbies, they were convinced I did tennis, volleyball, and dance, which I did. I did track too, which they knew. But what they didn't know was that my dance studio had something I had longed to have at home.

A piano.

It had started out innocently, about two years after the spirit world incident. Taking up dancing had become an idea in the back of my mind. Volleyball and tennis were fun, but this art wasn't as competitive really. You could just go to a school dance and... dance, so it was all good and fun. The studio was close by, and I could walk there for my lessons, too, even though I was only twelve.

About a half of a year into the dancing I had learned something. None of the dancers in my class even dared to look at the piano wrong, because Ms. Hiruko polished it everyday and always seemed to hover at least ten feet away from the piano, if not closer. Apparently piano was her gift from heaven, her one true passion. Her sister, Mrs. Gakomi, was the real dancer, happily teaching the girls all she had to know about prancing around on her tip toes. Her sister was the piano accompaniment. And she really could play, there was no doubt about it. Her fingers performed their own dance, stepping gracefully on the ivory keys, creating chords and treating them with the utmost care, like she would've her own child, had she married and had one.

But ever since I worked those three fateful days in the bathhouse, my punctuality record had sky rocketed. It was so high, in fact, that one day my presence could be found in the studio before Mrs. Gakomi, or Ms. Hiruko, who was the piano's personal hawk and guardian. But the studio was open by the janitors, because they were told to clean the floor before the dancers arrived and frowned at the filth that accumulated there.

And, though I was an athletic girl who was skinny for a reason, and had arm muscles from whacking little green balls with rackets and spiking bigger white balls with the palm of her hand, I had always desired another hobby. One that did not involve exercising until I collapsed. One that really had another kind of beauty to it, one that you could hear and not see. One where looks didn't matter as long as the music was played right.

This is how I began to play the piano. Maybe it really wasn't the desire to have a gentler hobby. Maybe it was because the giant instrument glowed, calling for me with a thousand notes, chords and pieces playing in my head. Its white keys, its black keys. They shined beneath the light the track lighting gave. The bench seemed so empty and lonely, and it was like we were two halves. And in one minute fate put two and two together and got eight, which truly is twice as better as what you would've normally gotten if you were to put a person with a piano. Because everyone knows eight is better than four.

I was in tight black shorts made of that nice, comfortable material that were normally in gym shorts. In fact, I'm sure that's what kind of shorts these were. They clung around my knee, where they ended, and yet they didn't constrict my movement as I glided over to the piano. Mrs. Gakomi believed it was easier to tell dance groups apart by giving them colored shirts, and I was given an orange one at the time, because it was a rainbow system and orange was just above beginner. As your skill level increased, you got different shirts, like in karate. I remember about two years ago at age fourteen, which is about a year and a half after I had taken a seat at that particular piano, I had begun to take karate as well, because Isabelle was raped, and we all agreed to never let that happen again. She had kept the baby girl, named her Mika, and made Zenjiro her godfather and Misami her godmother. Which is fine, considering how things turned out. I really did love those three, and Mika was pretty amazing, but being her godmother would've bound me to the world I did not belong to.

So, there I was. My hair was up in a playful ponytail, rich brown hair kept from my eyes except for the rare strand that would be called a bang I guess. I wore my orange shirt that, in white letters, read on the back 'Magical Art Dance Studio' with two people entwined in a complicated dance, though they weren't detailed enough to come straight out and say that they were people. In fact, one could've mistaken it for two dancing grass blades instead. On the front it simply said 'M. A. D. S. It's art.' I wore my plain black pants, my sturdy ballet shoes.

And I knew I just couldn't compare to the giant black object before me, the thing that challenged me to play it. The other girls wouldn't come within five yards of it, but there was me. The one who was different. It was easy for me to sit there, having been called by the piano itself. I rested my hands on the keys, and thought back to the times I had seen Ms. Hiruko do simply scales, a couple chords. I tried to imitate them, hitting a wrong note because memory hated me, but eventually I picked up the speed of the simple patterns, the basic idea of the scales themselves.

Forgotten was the fact that Ms. Hiruko didn't like it when the dancers came near the piano. Forgotten was the fact that the other dancers would be arriving in forty-five minutes. Forgotten was the fact that both Ms. Hiruko and Mrs. Gakomi would be here thirty minutes earlier than that.

And so, fifteen minutes came and gone, and in my own little world, my ears did not pick up anything but the sound of the piano. This is rather unfortunate, because in came my teachers. Mrs. Gakomi had come earlier than her sister, and had not even glanced at the piano, assuming she knew who it was. She went straight to her office to check her voicemail before coming out into the studio. Ms. Hiruko was also a bit late, thirty eight minutes late in fact, for in came the other students, jaws dropping shock when they saw who was behind the piano.

But for me, time was flying by and nothing could've stopped me.

Not even when a certain pianist finally arrived could I be stopped. Her jaw had fallen for all of three seconds before closing with an audible click. She yelled at me. Oh she yelled so loud it nearly put my parents' yelling to shame, but it was enough for Mrs. Gakomi to come out. She kindly smiled at me, and I nodded. She had mouthed 'stay after class' and I was agreeing. Standing, we both acted like nothing had happened as I went to join the rest of my classmates in getting ready for class in the back, which they had done once they saw the foreboding shadow of Ms. Hiruko fall on the door. Their fear was plain. They hadn't seen her go berserk on me, though.

I still acted as if nothing happened throughout the rest of the class, though it was obvious Ms. Hiruko was irritated about something. Or I thought she was. When everyone else left, I stayed behind like I was told.

Ms. Hiruko vanished, and Mrs. Gakomi told me to wait while she sent a few emails before she met up with me again. This got me back on the piano's bench, gliding my fingers along the keys as I taught myself chords that rang just right to me. I was trying to sound out a couple simple, childish pieces like Happy Birthday and my ABC's when a pair of long-fingered hands rested over mine, shifting my hand ever so slightly into a position that was not familiar to me, before pressing down on my thumb. "That's the note you want. This note is called C." It was Ms. Hiruko, and she smiled at me as she began to teach me all the notes. I didn't even know what was going on. Mrs. Gakomi never did return, actually. I think she had planned it the whole time.

Ms. Hiruko remarked that I might just be a natural, but I didn't know that in the back of her mind the only explanation she could find to my behavior was 'prodigy'.

So, I made time in my schedule. I joined a smaller league tennis team to clear up the practices, and Mrs. Gakomi called my mother to tell her that I would be staying after an extra half hour for more practice if she was willing to pay an extra five dollars. They weren't willing to charge me too much, because Ms. Hiruko seemed so happy just to teach me all she knew.

More time went by, and another six months later, I was able to play some simple pieces out of a book. Two months before Isabelle was raped, equally a grand total of sixteen months playing, I was playing even better, teaching myself the piano parts to songs you heard on the radio in America, which I had taken a liking to. I taught myself How to Save a Life, Apologize, What I've Done, and a couple others that escape my mind at the moment. But it didn't matter, I was becoming better. The half hour became an hour, and track became a smaller competition. I moved down to a smaller league actually, to make time for my piano playing. And the month Isabelle got raped, I had found out right after a piano lesson. Right before a dance recital six months later was a piano competition, which, even though competition wasn't my thing, was a big deal that I was excited about. Ms. Hiruko said I needed to find a piece I'd want to play. At this time I was fourteen, and had no idea what I wanted to play. So, I went to that abandoned amusement park and stood in the waterless river they never did finish. At the time I had been given a laptop, and even though my mother would hate me for it later, I searched the internet while I was there. Apparently there was wi-fi, most likely from the spirit world's energy. And that was where I discovered a piano piece.

It was a beautiful piece, and the title made me want to cry. It brought back all the memories I had stowed away so I could lie to my parents. A white dragon bleeding and thrashing about in an evil witch's office, a kind boy with green hair giving me a peculiar looking berry to eat so I wouldn't disappear, a river carrying my shoe away but saving me. "River Flows in You by Yiruma," I whispered, liking the way the name rolled off my tongue so easily, like... water.

So, the next day I returned to Ms. Hiruko and told her the piece. She was ecstatic, and so was I when I discovered my fingers had no difficulty with the strange pattern. The right hand had a difficult part, because while the left hand played a steady rhythm, the right had difficult ornamentation to add in, along with its own notes to play that were off beat compared to the left hand, which played the same thing over and over again.

Ms. Hiruko told me that for the next couple of months I could practice on my own and tell her if I wanted her to come to my practice and help when I needed it.

This was fine, but when it was time to leave there were suddenly bigger problems to face. Isabelle was standing outside my house, and my parents weren't home, so she was left there to wait for me, looking scared and frightened, tear stains on her cheeks.

"Izzy?"

She shook violently, racing to me and crying her eyes out. "Chihiro!" she wailed.

"Hey girl. Let me unlock the door and we'll talk about this in my room, okay?" There was nothing else to say as wrapped her arms around me. We were like sisters. Worry was an understatement. After making her some tea because she really needed some life back in her eyes, we made our way up to my room with its gray walls and purple bed sheets to match the ribbon in my hair made four years ago. There were images of rivers and dragons all over my walls, a white desk with my laptop, a bookshelf with volleyball magazines and dragonology books and such filling it. We took a seat on my double-bed, and rested her head on a pillow that she propped against the wall.

"Chi..." she said uncertainly. I raised my eyebrows. "I... I..." This is where she managed to somehow tell me she was raped.

That's when I knew what I had to do. I would learn a song along with River Flows in You, and I'd play it for her. There were not many ways to comfort rape.

"But Chi..." she began, biting her lip and twisting a lock of caramel hand around a finger.

"Yeah?"

She shook her head, and I wouldn't know what she wanted to say for a couple weeks.

But one month later, after Misami and I started karate, Isabelle came to my door again. She always came to mine first, since I had known her longer than Misami. I bet Misami didn't like that, but really, it was her fault for being so wrapped up in writing and trying to become a psychic. But we love her anyway.

"Chi," she started, biting her lip and twisting her hair again. Deja vu hit me, and I knew she was about to finish what she never did last time. "I want to keep the baby."

"Baby?" I asked, confused.

She nodded in my room, looking out the window that viewed the forest that covered the road that lead up to my house. "I'm pregnant," she said.

So, because going against her would be wrong, and Izzy really did seem to want to do this, I nodded. "Alright. What do you need?"

Isabelle looked at me with a soft smile appearing on her lips. "Well, one, you better hold me a good baby shower or I'll never forgive you," she told me. I nodded, chuckling a bit. "And two, will you be its godmother?"

This hurt me, because I knew Misami would make a better godmother, and she would really want to. Plus, I knew that in the end I'd have to go back to the spirit world. I couldn't live here, because it wasn't the same. I missed Haku, and he wasn't going to keep his promise on his own. Don't get me wrong, I was honored, but that wasn't the point.

"Izzy, are you sure?"

"Chi?" She looked at me, confused as to why I sounded so uncertain.

This time it was me biting my lip. "Look, Misami would really like to be your baby's godmother, I just know it. Plus, really, I don't think I'd be good at it. And if I did bad at it I'd feel guilty for the rest of my life," I said, hanging my head out of sadness. I knew that I'd be leaving soon. I had to.

Isabelle smiled sadly. "Alright. I'll tell Misami. I'm sure you'll right. She'll be thrilled."

Then I grinned at her. "And no doubt she'll practically kill you for not telling her sooner. Don't forget you can use your pregnant status to your advantage," I advised. We both laughed and talked for the rest of the day until we managed to call Misami. We were right, of course. The crazy red head was beyond ecstatic or overjoyed. The poor human language lacks a word that can describe her feelings, I'm sure. She rambled on about how it was an honor to be a godparent, and eventually we had to just invite her over so we didn't waste time on the phone when we could be snacking on chips, watching Johnny Depp movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, gosipping about Zenjiro and others, and telling our deepest secrets, even our darkest. Except for me. I held back on the spirit world. But I did tell them one thing as we were all in the secret sisters' circle.

"Okay, so Isabelle has a crush on that boy in gym."

"Ishiro!" Isabelle shot back, blushing.

Misami shoved some chips in her mouth. "Right. He's not the fatherly type in my opinion, but if you hook him, make sure he ditches the alcohol. It's no good for pregnant women, and I'm not helping you give birth to a deformed baby because you got drunk so Ishiro could sleep with you."

Isabelle frowned. Misami didn't actually have much experience in dating because she was bad with boys, but I was the one with the real problem. I didn't date. Izzy said nothing because she didn't want to fight with her friend, who was too oblivious with boys as it was and had only dated twice.

"I don't like an___"

"Oh right, Misami," Isabelle interrupted, now feeling like a good bit of malicious mocking would do the trick. She paused Princess Bride where Westley was shirtless on the torture chamber in the pit of despair, all our favorite scene. "Nobody? At all? No one we know? No one you like?" I knew what she was hinting at.

Misami pouted, pressing the play button again after glancing appreciatively over the actor's chest. "Nope," she said, though her cheeks were now light pink.

Isabelle and I rolled our eyes.

Misami then tried to reavert the attention. "But what of Chihiro here? Hm? She's so mysterious. She hasn't dated once as far as I know," she pointed out.

"I went on that date with Yoshi," I snapped stubbornly.

Misami rolled her eyes, not stopping to think before she spoke. "But we set you up with him. Did you think that closet conveniently locked on itself? No. How else could we get him to ask you on a date?"

This made me stand up, and Isabelle had to pause the movie again because she couldn't watch with all the distractions. "You admit it!" I shouted, pointing an accusing finger.

Misami covered her mouth, eyes wide. "Shit. I hate you, Chi."

I grinned, sitting down now that I was satisfied. "Nope. Just clever. Besides, we both know you love me. Plus, you gotta love me because your father does," I said.

This made her snort. Honestly, she was just _so_ ladylike. Really. She put the Queen of England to shame, I swear. (sense the sarcasm here?) "That's because you have a strong spiritual aura. I can sense it, but I really think its just you're stupidity. The spiritual aura is trying to cloud it so you can actually make friends," she scoffed.

"Right. Looked in the mirror lately, Misami?"

Her eyes went from wide to narrow in under a second, looking like deadly blue slits. "You're a dead woman, Chihiro."

"As I recall," I began with a smirk, "I'm faster in karate."

"That's cause you do dance and sports. I'm fairly good for only doing soccer. I can kick, Chi," she spat. I wiggled my eyebrows in a silent challenge at her. She was about to bite, too. But Isabelle interrupted.

"Okay, can we get this over with? Tell us who you like so we can watch the damn movie," Isabelle said, now furious. All three of us were pretty sure it was the mood swings finally kicking in. Wasn't that supposed to happen like... four months in? I don't really know. I've never been pregnant. I just knew that she coudln't go to many sleepovers eventually because she would vomit in the morning. Also, we'd have to go shopping a lot for food for her. And then mood swings. When it happened I had no idea.

"That's right. You avoided the question," Misami said, now the one who was throwing the accusations around.

I rolled my chocolate eyes. Right. I didn't do it on purpose. Then I sighed, dreamily staring at a picture of a dragon. "I fell in love when I was ten..." I began, but didn't finish. Misami and Izzy were leaning in, intrigued. "His name was Haku, He was stubborn and bossy and dumb, but beneath it all was a sweet person. I miss him so much. He promised we'd meet again, but so far I haven't seen him. It hurts like hell."

They both smiled, sighing dreamily without even realizing it. I think they were envious of me.

Then Izzy insisted on playing the movie again, and all was forgotten.

The next five and a half months flew by. It was two weeks until my piano and dance recital. I had moved up to a green shirt rather fast, and could practically play River Flows in You. In fact, my mother might've mentioned me tapping the wall in my sleep once. She didn't know why, though, because neither her nor my father had any idea I was playing piano.

I had also taught myself the surprise song for Isabelle. We had her baby shower, where I played Shining Smile by Yiruma for her and the guests, the whole time grinning, and Misami and I had gone with her to her first ultrasound. Zenjiro was too embarrassed and flustered to take the invitation. Isabelle could never get over my beautiful piano playing, cause they had no idea either until I played. Zenjiro was only there for that part, actually. After that we shooed him away.

I played the piece for Ms. Hiruko, who was astounded by my work. She had become like a second mother to me, and I could tell she was proud.

Two weeks later I had my recital. Nervous wasn't possible. I was so confident in the song, in the piano that was waiting for me on that stage. When I finally got up there, messing up wasn't an option. In fact, it wasn't a possibility in the first place. I played my heart and soul out on that piano. And everyone could tell when I played the last couple notes, finishing it off with one final chord, that I truly did love that piece. Throughout the whole thing all I could think about was Haku. Consumed by a feeling I'd later call love, my playing was even better than normal.

The applause was like thunder, and I knew that, since this was also a competition, I had won. No one was surprised when I got the little certificate and prize money. They begged for an encore, and I played Shining Smile for them as well. Yiruma's songs really were my favorite.

Three months past, and about two weeks before the due date of Isabelle's child, a girl according to the ultra sound, I played her a piece called Mika's Song, because I knew she'd always wanted a baby girl, and Mika was a pretty name to me. After I played, she actually went into labor, and we all went to the hospital with her. I let her crush my hands while she yelled at Zenjiro, causing the doctors to make the wrong assumptions, though humorous. She also crushed Misami's hand too, and talked to us about plotting to kill that evil Zenjiro, who had promptly hidden in the waiting room, though her shouts still echoed, and everyone else in the room figured out who Zenjiro was. When we came out to tell him that Mika was born, because Isabelle decided to name her after the song I played for her, we found everyone staring at him as if they blamed him for the screaming woman who had finally shut up.

Zenjiro had blushed red, and we pulled him inside anyway, explaining to everyone he wasn't the father, just Isabelle's best friend who was a guy.

And this is when I knew I couldn't stay much longer. I had turned fifteen while Isabelle was pregnant, two months before Mika was born. Something inside me told me I only had one year left. I played the piano, volleyball, tennis, track, and spent as much time with them as possible, playing with Mika until eyes were drooping shut, desperate for sleep.

Then, on my sixteenth birthday, before my birthday party that Misami had helped me set up, I recorded myself playing all the piano songs I knew, from Listen to Your Heart to Terrantella (spelling?) to Apologize to River Flows in You. But I played Farewell as the last piece. I got shots of me playing each, then I filmed areas in the abandoned theme park, having words run up over the images to tell the story of when I was ten. And as the last chords of Farewell by Yiruma hung in the air, I put the video together, and put in the shot of me turning away from the piano, smiling at them, and then saying "I love you guys. I miss you all. And hopefully I'll see you again someday. But my home is in the spirit world. That abandoned theme park? That story I told you just now? It's true. And if you ever want to find me again, remember that story. You were the best human friends ever, maybe even the best friends ever out of spirits and humans, but I love Haku and the spirit world, and I can't stay away any longer. This is why I really couldn't be Mika's godmother, Isabelle. Sorry. Good luck with her. I hope you find someone who can help you support her. And Misami and Zenjiro. I'm ashamed of you guys. You two are such big, oblivious idiots. Just kiss already." There I laughed and closed up the piano. "I love you Mom and Dad. You never believed me, but that's okay. I guess I understand, and deep down I've forgiven you already, I'm sure. Hopefully I'll be able to eventually prove it to you. The spirit world is real. My story was true. I wish you guys the best of luck because I really do care for you all. I love you. Even when I call you idiots, bastards, bitches, and say I hate you, I don't mean it one bit. Mika, I really wish I could see you grow up. Really. I hope you listened carefully to the fourth song I played, because after I played it the first time for your mother, she gave birth to you, and named you after the song. Isabelle, you were like a sister, a great sister. Misami, you too. Isabelle, you were sweet and smart and careful and thoughtful, and always put others first. Misami, you were strong-headed and stubborn and, well, a little dumb, but you had a good heart. Zenjiro, you were a great brother, since I never had one of those either. You were a little shy, but you were strong and great and awesome and funny, really. Mom and Dad, thanks for raising me. And Mika, I always thought of you like the best niece ever. Your fist word was dragon, and I think that's my fault. I told you all about Haku when no one was listening except for you. You were a funny baby though. Anyway, farewell guys." Tears brimming in my eyes, I finished off the movie, made copies of it, and then put the CD's into cases and wrapped them.

My birthday party was a blast. I couldn't have asked for more. But as everyone's birthday came by, I gave them their CD and told them not to open it until Isabelle's birthday, because she was the youngest. They all had to open it together anyway. It wasn't their actual birthday gifts.

Then, on Isabelle's birthday, I wrapped her in a hug, the tears I hadn't cried when making the CD coming out now. "Happy birthday," I managed between sobs. "I love you. And I'll miss you. But I have to go. Please watch the CD." Then, not being strong enough to look them in the eyes anymore, I picked up my backpack and ran to the theme park. And as they all watched their CD's, they nodded in understanding, and didn't chase after me.

My parents cried, but they understood too, at last, and didn't need the proof I thought they would need.

What made me laugh was that, as I left, I was pleased to realize I had a black belt and was wearing a black shirt, meaning I was like a teacher at the dance studio. Many could say that, as a teenager, Chihiro was a pretty successful teenager. This is true. Looking back, ever since the spirit world my personality and heart had changed. Determination and stubborness rid my soul of the whiny child that had once been there.

_A river never dies. It's like love. It's always there. You can try to get rid of it, but its still there. It's like memories of good friends. You can try to erase the memories of the spirit world, but its always there in the back of your mind. It's like when your friend leaves you for another world, and you know you will see them eventually, but it'll be a long time, and so you wish, just for now, to get rid of the hurt and forget. But memory is like a river too. It never dies. It's always there, waiting to be revived, nagging you eternally._

Night was falling as I entered the theme park, but I was in the town by the time the wide ocean appeared, the familiar, glowing cruise ship making its way across ever so slowly, lighting up the inky water that imitated the dark sky, reflecting the few rare specks of silver light that everyone would call stars. Shadowy figures appeared in the shops that were once abandoned, bartering for precious goods. The bathhouse, though, took my breath away once again as its windows began to shine gold, and the lanterns lit up happily. You could hear voices shouting from within, and smoke began to rise from some of the chimneys. Some workers opened the windows of their rooms to glance outside happily to look for guests.

Legs and hands were beginning to fade, but I bravely held my breath to cross the bridge and race down the stairs that had once gotten me frozen solid. I also avoided the wall that had squashed my nose last time, if memory served me right. That took pure skill, considering how steep the unsturdy, ricketing wooden staircase was.

And then, barely visible and racing the clock, I entered the boiler room, snatching an uncooked noodle from one of the many drawers on the wall and desperately shoving it in my mouth and chewing. The soot rushed to me, happy for my return. They still recognized me, and for that I was touched. The crawled up my legs, which were clothed with jeans, but still tickled. Some rested on my shoulders, which were left uncovered for the most part because of my navy blue, button-up tank top. My body was slowly beginning to appear after I rushed to eat spirit food.

Kamaji turned to see what was disturbing his normally very diligent workers, and the old spider-like spirit's face lit up with happiness.

"Sen!" he shouted. I grinned, just as happy to see him. He scratched the top of his head, extending two hands to brush off the soot and carry me over to him, causing me to drop my pack. I was heavier than last time, because I'd grown about double my previous height, and had filled out. Any doubts about me being a girl were quickly vanished.

Kamaji held me close to him, smiling, before holding me at arms length to inspect me once more. Nodding to himself, he let me go.

"You have grown into a fine young woman, Sen. I'm sure Haku will be pleased."

I ignored that, having gotten good at resisting the urge to blush, fighting it furiously. "Haku is still here?" I inquired. It was better than him leaving, because that would make it hard to find him. But it did surprise me that he hadn't escaped Yubaba's grasp. Though it was also impossible to supress the sigh of relief that came from my mouth. He was still alive.

_A river never dies._

"Get back to work you lazy soot balls!" he shouted, forgetting my question momentarily while attempting to rally his workers. The soot balls in question leapt at the sound of their master's voice, and hurried to pick up coal and throw it in the furnace. Then he glanced at me. "Haku is still here. Yubaba was not willing to obey her contract, and unfortunately Haku became weaker with your departure, so he could not break her magic. Zeniba has tried many times to help him, but Yubaba has rewritten the contract and fooled the higher spirits that control our world. They believe she is simply enforcing her rules and that Haku is in the wrong. He never was the same since you left, and so he hasn't fought against her." The boiler man looked extremely sad and troubled by this.

But I wouldn't be shaken. I bowed my head and balled my hands into fists, closing my eyes quickly. "That baka," I hissed vehemently. "Where is he?"

Kamaji's scruffy eyebrows covered his eyes even more as his brow furrowed. He was thinking. "Don't consider going in the bathhouse without a job. Yubaba would__"

"Is that where he is?" I asked, my head snapping up to look at him.

"Child, not even Bo could save you from her wrath at you returning. You fooled her o__"

"I know. And I'll risk that. Now, _is that where he is_?" I asked, eyes going steely and the tendons in my wrists sticking out from the tension and pressure building up in my fists.

Kamaji stared at me. He said nothing for quite sometime. Perhaps he was trying to see whether my courage and perseverence would waver.

_A river never dies. It reminds many of determination, for it keeps on living, surviving, going. Its like courage, for when you need to you can always find it, once you look hard enough. Whether its within yourself or within the ocean, it is there. You just have to look. You have to look and find it and use it. Maybe this is why a river never dies._

Then he nodded. "Yes. He just got back from a mission two days ago, so he should be on the bottom two levels today checking in on the staff. He probably wouldn't come here, even if Lady Luck proclaimed you were her child, so don't count on that," Kamaji explained.

I nodded firmly, like a soldier. "Alright. Thank you very much, Kamaji," I told him, bowing politely. "Good night. I need to find Haku."

He sighed and my feet carried me up the passage that would lead me to the bathhouse, the one that did not involve the rickety stairs, but a much safer route that everyone loved much more and used a lot more as well.

The night was still young, and energized was an understatement. I found that I got tired less and less often from working here, having worked so efficiently and hard in such little amount of time. "Alright, Haku. Don't think you can hide." And that's when the search began. I had no desire of being caught by the workers, so a stealthier approach was called for. A mental map formed in my head. No doubt Yubaba and Haku were aware of my presence, even if the other workers weren't because my breath holding skills had improved over the years. Of course, they probably didn't know it was me, Chihiro, Sen.

The bathhouse is tall, that's one thing. Of course, my mission only called for me to go up a level or two, not counting the ground level, and since there were wrap around porches and ladders, this just made it easier. Once on the porch, it was easy to creep around in the shadows and look through the windows in search of a set of emerald eyes and green hair. He might've grown over the years, which was the one thing that made this extremely difficult.

As the shadows enveloped me, I slid off my shoes for quieter foot steps, and crept along the edge, watching with eyes like a falcon or hawk to make sure my target did not evade me.

Many times emergency procedures were taken, like cliimbing up a ladder suddenly, or grabbing the rail and throwing myself over, clinging desperately to the rail so they couldn't see me and my body didn't plummet to the bottom of the river that flowed beneath the bridge leading to the bathhouse. The workers couldn't see me, or my efforts were lost.

It turns out he wasn't on any of the levels, so I proceeded to higher floors, reaching the fifth at last, where Lin and me used to rest. When I past her room, which I suspected to be empty, I was caught by surprise. There, lying with his green eyes closed where my sleeping mat used to be six years ago, was a handsome devil, a sexy beast with his shirt off, slightly muscled arms behind his head and clutching onto the missing shirt in question. His legs were casually crossed. He was tall, maybe an inch taller than me if he was lucky, making him six foot and two inches. His green hair still had that odd looking, boring cut that was straight and cut at his chin. If things went the way a certain human (cough me cough) wanted them to, that hair would be cut to make him even sexier. It would be a more disheveled look, but short for sure.

Sliding open the door, my lips curved upward at the ends.

A river never really dies. In fact, they'll live on forever until all the water falls from the earth, and even then they'll live on, they'll grow, they'll learn. And they remember everything. They remember everyone, for just like the river that never dies, nothing fades from the river's memory.

He didn't notice. He must've been in a trance. Kneeling beside his chest, I smirked. For a dragon it would appear he was missing some abs. Was that a four pack? No. It was too faint. So, I reached out with a nimble hand, sliding it into one of his own and pulling it away from his head. His eyes shot open, and he sat up a little fast, because he looked disoriented. His other hand dropped his shirt in shock when he turned to see who held his hand. I squeezed his hand, and awe covered his face. "Chihiro..." He was caught off guard, this was for sure. Then he remembered he wasn't wearing a shirt. "Ch-Chihiro... Uh..." He was reaching for his shirt, which he had dropped within my reach. I grabbed it though, holding it behind my back with my free hand.

"It's fine, Haku. Come on. You need to tell me what happened here," I informed him, pulling him up with my athletic, muscled arms. Haku was clearly impressed with my new strength, and smiled at me, forgetting about the fact that he was bare-chested. I took him out to the balcony outside my room from six years ago, which I assumed Lin still slept in according to her sleeping mat that was on the floor. And once we were both leaning on the rail, watching the stars sparkle above and the spirits bustling below, he poured out his story. I was glad he wasn't keeping secrets from me. He told me all about how he told Yubaba he had discovered his name, the Kohaku River, but she switched the rules on him, binding him to the bathhouse with extremely powerful magic that only Zeniba could break with her seal. But when she arrived, Yubaba had changed the contract and told the higher spirits that her sister planned to break the rules of a sacred contract. And so, Zeniba could not continue with their original plan. They had tried many times over the six years. Haku tried to sneak out, overpower her with magic, persuade the higher spirits, but none of it worked. I watched, fascinated by the way he told the story. But I also didn't miss how his eyes would go sad whenever he mentioned something that must've reminded him of me, call me vain, but I'm sure that was it, of when he wished I was there, of when he was too weak with me being absent from his life. It's funny. That's how I felt whenever I was reminded of him back in the human world. He just got lucky that out of the two of us I chose to go to his world.

I reached for his hand again, but realized that I didn't need to. I still had it wrapped firmly in mine, and it was shaking. Pity and sadness welled up within me. He really had suffered under Yubaba.

"Chihiro, I missed you so much. I just can't believe I was so stupid. I scared you away and I... That was the biggest mistake of my life. I really can't... can't say... it's so... how can I tell you that... I... I just... Chihiro, I__"

"Kohaku."

He snapped out of his stammering apology slash nervous breakdown. "Yeah?"

"Why didn't you keep your promise?" It wasn't to be rude. It was a test.

Instantly, he wrapped me in his arms, shaking, burying his head into my shoulder. Ah. Woman's intuition. He was only an inch taller than me.

"I tried. But I just couldn't. It hurt me so much Chihiro... It was filled with such immeasurable suffering... I... my heart... it..."

"Kohaku River!"

He pulled back, hopelessness in his eyes, and fear, as he continued shaking. Then, I slid my hand away from his and grasped his shoulders. "I know. I know the feeling. Now shut up," I told him hotly, pressing my lips to his sweetly and gently. After a bit of shock, he responded, moaning lightly when my fingers lightly danced on the sensitive skin of his neck before my left hand grasped his hair. The other continued to draw designs on his neck, though. Then I nipped his lip, and he opened, greedily taking in my tongue.

Finally, I pulled back, ending the kiss. He pouted. Hey, I started it. I think I get to choose when it ends, dragon boy.

"Haku. I'm not leaving you. Ever. Now, let's go talk to Yubaba," I told him, kissing him quickly before grabbing his arms with a smile. "Care to fly us there?"

He grinned, overjoyed, before morphing into a beautiful, long and large, snake-like creature. A dragon with sharp talons and large fangs and white scales with the glimmering brilliance of pearls. He gave a roar of happiness that surely alerted everyone to my arrival, if Kamaji was right and that Haku wasn't his true self once I had left. Skillfully, I leapt onto his back, and we flew quickly through the fresh, cool air like a bullet, joining with the wind itself, practically. Then, he slid through the window, landing firmly on the ornate, out-of-style carpet Yubaba had going through her floor to match the equally distasteful wallpaper. The fire was crackling, and three large, green heads were rolling into what had been a nursery six years ago, but just from the outside I could tell it had matured with the one who took residence within it. A very astounded, wrinkled and short witch with messy, faded blonde hair in a hideous bun was staring at Haku, not yet seeing me on his back until he morphed into human form, revealing the human he had stowed away. Me.

Her eyes narrowed, and smoke was already beginning to seep from her mouth. She would be coughing up flames anytime soon. Hopping up and landing a few feet before us in her signature blue dress that really did nothing for her horrible figure, the flames came. "You. You dare to return after begging to leave and save your damned parents? You horrible, nasty, annoying bitch!" Yubaba screeched, her hair falling from the disorganized bun to whip around her abnormally large, ugly face.

"You dare to talk to Chihiro like that?" Haku spat, grabbing my arm protectively. I kissed his ear, biting his earlobe playfully before pulling away from his grasp.

"It's fine, Haku. She can say what she likes. She owns this place doesn't she. But Yubaba, can I ask you something? Did you break your promise and change the contract after lying to the higher beings?" I asked.

"You filthy, disgusting, no-good bit__"

I raised a hand and her mouth went shut with an audible click. "Maybe you didn't hear me, bitch. But I asked you a question. Did you break your promise and change the contract after lying to the higher beings?" My voice was like acid, seeping into her bones and killing her slowly, painfully. Knowledge was drowning me. Things I didn't know moments before now seemed like obvious matter of fact.

"I did no such thing!" Yubaba spat, trying to cover her fear as my face shadowed. My hand curled into a fist and seemed to throw something invisible into a wall. Yubaba hovered in the air, struggling to breath as she managed to let out a breathy scream, one that was high pitched and not always there, vanishing when her air flow ended. Her spine had felt a collision into a wall that she had not experienced.

"Are you lying to me?" I asked, taking this new power in stride. My eyes were deadly slits, and Yubaba immediately turned wise.

"Yes..." she whispered, terrified now.

I let her fall with a rather noisy thud that was all but graceful. My skin went cold, and the air in the room dropped several degrees. An icy blue tint surrounded my being, and soon my eyes and hair matched it. My face grew fur, as did the rest of my body, and I got a muzzle with fangs and ears. To my great surprise, though, I also got a sleek, long tail. Angel wings sprouted from my back, and I was on all fours. Awareness of my new form reached me. I was a wolf. With wings. And if that wasn't the dumbest yet coolest thing you've ever heard then something must be wrong with you. Folding the wings to my back, I approached the collapsed woman. "I'm giving you ten months. Enjoy your bathhouse while you can. Then I'm taking it away," I warned her.

"W-w-why t-te-ten?" she asked, stuttering profusely.

I grinned wolfishly. (I know, I'm so funny) "One month for fun and for trying. Nine months while its under construction. And then Haku and I will have an heir to take over the bathhouse if we were to become incapable of doing it ourselves, and so we are allowed to take it from you," I informed her rather bluntly, turning into my human form again and rising to my feet. "Until then you better be nice."

Yubaba's mouth opened and closed multiple times while I grabbed Haku by the shoulders, and then we met each other in the middle, lips pressed against lips, then tongues dancing with tongues. I pulled back. "You were going to say 'I love you' down on that balcony on the fifth floor, weren't you?" I asked, laughing as we walked out of her office and into the elevator to head back downstairs. Kohaku blushed, but nodded. "Good. Love you, too. So, where's your room?"

He eyed me warily with those intense green eyes of his. "Won't you need to see Lin before she gets furious to find that you're here and you haven't said hi to her? And why do you need to know where my room is?" he inquired, suspicious no doubt.

"She can wait a month. Besides, I wasn't lying to Yubaba. One month is all you get Haku. I better be pregnant by then otherwise my threat is entirely pointless," I said flatly, glancing at him with seriousness on my face. His jaw dropped. "Besides, we love each other right?"

Haku suddenly stopped the elevator, picked me up, and ran out of the elevator, running for his room. "That we do," he answered, smiling slyly before slamming the door behind us.

Ten months passed. Lin was happy to see me, and entirely understood why I didn't see her for a whole month. She hadn't attached herself to another male spirit, but she had hooked a few a couple times. It turns out that normally I'm only an icy blue human with wings and fangs when I transform unless the situation calls for intimidation or something else. I'm actually a guardian from the higher beings who was trapped in a human body as punishment for something, but I redeemed my sins, which I have yet to figure out exactly what they were. This is why I had gotten in the spirit world so easily.

Haku and I became parents exactly on the tenth month, and we had a little girl I named Aiko. So, Yubaba left to serve as the higher beings' maid while I tried to become the guardian I once was, which Haku remembered was the only spirit he had actually tried and horribly failed at seducing ever. This made me laugh, and I made sure I'd never let him live it down.

We got married eventually, and it was a really pretty wedding, believe me. We did a human one too, so that Misumi, Zenjiro, Isabelle, Mika, Ms. Hiruko, Mrs. Gakomi, and my parents, as well as my other friends, could attend. And, as an extra wedding present, my three best friends all pitched in to get me a piano that Haku and I took back and put in out room. He was confused as to why they gave us a piano when neither of us played.

After kissing him senseless I guess it was a good time to play him a little song. A song called River Flows in You by Yiruma.

And after playing it for him and Aiko, I realized something. We were spirits. We were immortals. And we were in love, with a child to prove it to anyone who dared to think otherwise.

And in realizing this I noticed something else.

_A river never dies. Not our river. Not our river of memories, thoughts, and our love._

No.

A river never dies.

The night was young. It had been seven years, and now, with icy streaks forming in my normally warm brown hair, I had just finished telling Lin a deep dark secret, and was now leaning against the balcony, watching the stars above and spirits bustling below. Lin had taken Aiko into her care as I prepared for Haku to come back from talking with a fellow river spirit. It had been three weeks. And I had just learned something that was sure to make him very happy.

I sensed him coming from miles away through our special connection, and when he wrapped his arms around me and planted butterfly kisses on my neck, I was not surprised. I whirled to face him. "Hey," I greeted Haku, smiling and kissing him passionately. He held me closer to him as he returned the kiss. Then I pulled back, and remembered our first kiss. He pouted, just like before. But hey, I started it, so I got to choose when to finish it. "Look, Haku."

He raised his perfectly arched, green eyebrows at me. I grabbed his hand in mine and absently began to rub my hand on my stomach.

"So, what do you think of the names Jiro and Chizue?"

**Okay, so that was a really long one-shot. But I'm proud of it. I love this couple so much, and its just too bad that it never says what happened in the movie. They really needed a kiss or something. Anything romantic between the two. I mean it. I was desperate. But whatever. I wrote this instead. I hope you liked it, enjoyed it, loved it, or something like that. I hope you didn't mind the ending. And it took a long time for me to get up to the romance. Sorry about that, but I really am glad that I wrote it.**

**Please review. They really make my day, and encourage me to write more, and to improve my writing.**

**Ezzy**


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